Only Once
by bluebonnet babe
Summary: I updated! I updated! I updated! yay! Go me!
1. Chapter 1

"Only one more day," Edward, whispered, running his hand down my arm as I withed and screamed.

The pain had me crazy, so that a chair was twisted into something unrecognizable, and Dr. Cullins became a mutated monster

I could see Edward's worried face, and Esme's looks of pity, before the pain dragged me back to the underworld again.

The next time I woke up, my body was free of pain, and I was ravenous.

Edward was awake at my side. When I looked at him with eyes that didn't rove with pain, he smiled gratefully and leaned down to engulf me in a hug.

"Oh, Bella," he whispered into my hair.

I hugged him back just as hard, and pressed my lips to his cheek. He turned his head so that our lips met, and, for what seemed the first time, we shared a real kiss.

There was no holding back on his part: he didn't have to worry about caving my skull in when he held the back of my head.  
He moved his lips down to my neck. From habit more so than fear, I went still. He nuzzled the skin, breathing in the smell.When he finally looked up at me, he was smiling in such a way that his beauty was like that of twenty Adonis'.

I looked around and noticed that Dr. Cullins had left, and Alice wasn't waiting with me, like she had been so wont to do.

"Edward, what happens now?"

He looked at me, and laughed. "Well, I guess you have to hunt for food."

I shivered at the implication. "Where?"

"I'll take you up to the park."

"Where you and Emmet go?" I asked.

"Yeah, "he answered, not looking at me but into my eyes.

I smiled and he blew out his breath. It still smelled like a mixture of all good things in the world, and I was entranced. He was real. He wasn't going to leave me. And we had forever.


	2. Chapter 3

**Nothing is mine /sob/. Now the story may continue.**

Bella and Edward walked in the front doors of the school. Alice was standing at a boy's locker, and Bella waved at her. Alice waved back and smiled at Edward. She loped over and kissed Bella on the cheek.

"You look like a dancer, the way you move." Alice commented, looking Bella over critically.

Edward and I _did_ dance," Bella asserted, smiling up at Edward.

"Yeah?" asked Alice, looking at Edward, too. "And did she hurt you?" Bella stuck her tongue out

at Alice and walked off.

Waiting by her locker was Mike.

"Hey Bella," he said, "how was your spring break?"

"It was fine, Mike," Bella answered. Edward came up and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Mike visibly gulped, but looked only at Bella. "See you in English."

Mike knew when he was being dismissed and walked down the hall without looking back.

"He hates more than ever now., "he said cheerfully as Bella opened her locker. She took out her books, put her backpack in the box and shook out her jacket before shoving it in, too.

"He may hate you, but I love you." Edward smiled and walked her to class.

Jess and Bella walked to class together, talking about their spring breaks. Jess had gone to

Seattle with her mom to visit her aunt and to do the whole tourism thing. Bella told Jess that she

had just hung out.

The two girls walked over to their lunch table where they sat down with much muttering and

thrown glares, room was made for Edward. Bella laughed and talked with her friends like she

always had, but Edward sat stiff, leaning away from Lauren, who was sitting on his right, almost

until he was almost sitting on Bella's lap. Bella drank water, but didn't touch the apple she had

bought.

When she offered the water bottle to Edward, he jerkily shook his head. He suffered this

association a few more minutes until he bolted up from the table, touched Bella's shoulder and

walked over to his family. Bella watched after him, watched the silent welcome by Alice, Rosalie,

Emitt, and Jasper when Mike asked her a question.

"What?" she started.

Mike looked at her, "Never mind."

"Mike please..."

"You've changed Bella, and I don't know why."

The bell rang and the table emptied. Bella watched as her friends walked away, talking.

She was excluded. No one waited up for her, or beckoned with their voice.

Edward and his family walked past. Edward drew his hand down her neck, drawing her along with

him. She walked with the vampires, mourning her friends who had walked away.

**Whew! Another chapter. And I have to say, Thanks Jessica (do I really have to do the last name for you to know who you are?) for typing this up for me. You are a goddess.**

**I will try to update soon. My brain has gone kinda kaput sound effects**

**Now, do you see the little blue button down there? Yes? Press it. And if you have to flame, make it short. I love you!**


	3. Chapter 2

Hey ppl. I know I didn't put disclaimers on my last chapter, so here they are. Nobody is mine. The plot is. I don't like to insert random characters into my stories because it gets confusing. (i.e. Did we meet them the first year in Hogwarts? Does jess (1-800-WHERERU?) know him?) So, yeah. Read on.

Bella sat up from her groggy state on the bed. She hadn't been asleep (she couldn't) but her body

still needed still time to recuperate. Edward sat up from where he had been curled up behind her.

"Hey," he said softly, his breath blowing in her ear. She shivered in delight. He placed his lips on

her neck, and left them there.

"Do we need to get up?" she whispered. "Does Esme need us or…" Edward shook his head.

"I've kept you from Charlie too long. I think it's time you go home."

Bella made a little whimpering noise in the back of her throat and gripped his hand. "Don't…just,

don't…" she whimpered.

"I'm not going to leave you," his breath whisped across her skin, " we'll go and do things. I'll have

you back in time for Charlie to not fret in the morning. Stop worrying. We'll still be us."

"But…I can't sleep."

" A night on the town…in Dallas? How does that sound?"

Bella shivered again. "Oh, baby." She said in a lusty whisper, imitating a fifty's movie actress.

Edward laughed.

Bella walked in the front door of her house. Charlie looked up and smiled at her.

"Hey, Bella." He said. Then his eyes narrowed slightly. "You look different. What did you…?"

"Oh, dad!" laughed Bella, a hidden note of panic in her voice. "I'm wearing my hair differently.

Could that be it?"

Charlie scrutinized her again and nodded. "Yeah. That's gotta be it. Did you have fun at Jess's?"

"Yeah, we did. We painted nails and talked about boys. You know. Chick stuff."

Bella gave a fake stretch. "We stayed up pretty late last night. Do you mind if went to bed early?"

"But you just got home." Charlie said plaintively. Bella threw a yawn.

"But if you're that tired…"

"Thanks." She dropped a kiss on his cheek, holding her breath so she wouldn't attack him and rip

his neck out.

She walked up stairs and into the bathroom. She removed her clothes and stepped into the

shower. The hot water stung her flash and she yelped.

"Bella?" Her dad called up the stairs as Edward ripped back the shower curtain.

Bella slumped on the floor to cover herself as she yelled to Charlie, "the water was just too hot.

I'm fine. Don't worry."

Edward was looking at her while pretending not to look. He gave a silent laugh.

"Yes. From now on, cold showers would be the way to go, I think."

Bella stuck her tongue out at him and accepted the towel he handed her. She walked out of the

shower and led the way to her room.

"Turn around." She told Edward laughing.

Obediently he turned. She dressed in a pair of beaded jeans and a cute, black, deep v-neck shirt.

She put on a pair of clogs, brushed her hair, placed an opal drop around her neck, and touched

Edwards back. He turned and took her in.

"You look… delicious," he said at the same time Bella finished for him, " stunning."

They laughed silently and dropped out her window, jogged to the side of Edward's jag and

climbed in. He floored the gas pedal and the rushed out of the driveway. Within ten minutes they

were in Oregon. They drove down the coast until they came to the Texas state line, about 1

o'clock in the morning. Edward drove half an hour until they reached the lights of Dallas.

"We left at seven." Bella said as the walked into a bar. It's one. We have to be back at eight.

Charlie is going to leave for a day of fishing at seven. He never checks in on me. But, still, all the

same."

He wrapped Bella in his arms, kissed her deeply, and said. "Don't worry. You worry too much."

He led Bella to a secluded table where they sat and watched the people. After a few minutes,

Edward towed Bella onto the dance floor, despite her protests. He pulled her into his arms and

they danced. They danced slower than the beat and when the DJ finally saw them, he put on a

ballad. Bella and Edward twirled and shifted to the music as other couples joined them on the

dance floor. When Edward finally noticed that it was 1:57, he and Bella left the Lizard Lounge and

walked out to Edward's jaguar and drove home.

**I have a great respect for authors who find time to update regularly. You are amazing and I look at you in awe.**

**I have another chapter coming soon. My friend took it and it e-mailing it to me. Never fear, my darlings. Do you see that little blue button down there? Press it. NOW!…Please. I love you! Come back again and read some more.**

Thanks to all the people who reviewed. You gave me the encouragement to write more. I heart you!


	4. Author's note

I know that chapter 2 and 3 are out of order. I'm sorry. I submitted them in the wrong order and am too tired to change them. So, read chapter 2 FIRST, and chapter 3 SECOND. Thank you

(And no, this is not part of the story. Look at it's label)

Eternally sorry, and eternally yours,

Bluebonettbabe


	5. Chapter 4

**Here's another chapter…since you dragged it out of me…you ingrates! JK.**

**I own nothing. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here, writing a story based on someone else's. /nod/. So…here.**

Bella sat down on her biology stool, and Edward sat next to her. The teacher stumbled in,

pulling a TV on wheels with him. Bella scooted her stool closer to Edward's, and held his

hand and laid her head on his shoulder.

As the room went dark and the TV screen flashed on, and a man with a monotone droned

about extinction, Bella settled in for a long movie. Edward ran his fingers along the back

of her hand and she sighed contentedly. All too soon the movie was over and the bell

rang. Her next class was P.E., and as she walked into the gym and watched as Mike's

eyes slid away from her's, her stomach fell through her feet. She walked into the locker

room, and changed out of her school clothes and into an ugly gym uniform. When she

exited the changing room, a basketball soared towards her. She caught it and looked

around to see who had thrown it. Mike was walking away with stiff movements, and

Bella knew that as much as he had worshiped her a month ago, now, to the same extent,

he detested her. She tossed the ball behind her, not noticing the soft swoosh as it dipped

through the net, but the gym teachers glanced at each other and nibbled on their lips.

**I'm so sorry you guys. I know this is horribly short, but I don't feel too good. (I'll still be at school though…). Guess what! Tomorrow (Feb. 14) is my birthday! For a present, review…nice ones only. You can send me the nasties on the 15th. BTW, one of my uncles died today, so I may not update soon…but, then again, I might. You never know. **


	6. Chapter 5

I lied. I am updating today. Sorry. /hangs head in shame/ yes. So, I own nothing, because, if I did, I wouldn't be here…typing…I'd be outspending all my money in entirely useless fashions and using and abusing my many male admirers. Hehe 

The doors that led to the bathrooms and water fountains were swinging on their hinges. They were air pressurized so you couldn't push them open too fast, but as Bella swathed through them, they were flung back so hard, that they cracked against the wall.

She stalked over to where Mike was getting a drink. She grabbed his shoulder, swung him around, and pushed him against the wall.

"Michael Newton, (_I don't know if this is right. I couldn't find his name in my book. )_ what the HELL is wrong with you?" Bella hissed angrily in his face.

He cringed back, turning his head so he wasn't looking her in the face.

"What's wrong with _YOU_?" he countered, trying to duck out of the hold she had on him, and failing. He shook his hair back, to make it look like he had struggled on purpose.

"Nothing's wrong with me. I haven't changed. I'm still Bella. Isabella Leigha Swan. I lived in Arizona before I moved here to Forks. I live with my dad Charlie Marcus Swan, who is the resident police officer here in Forks. See, I'm still the same person."

Mike hadn't looked her in the face this whole time, but now he looked her square in the eyes.

" You have too changed. You haven't tripped once. You move like an angel," (if only he knew, Bella thought) "and you…just…I can't put my finger on it. But you have too changed. And I don't know if I like the new Isabella Leigha Swan."

" Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Bella whispered, close to Mike's ear. " and I can bring the fires of hell down on you like… this." She brought her hand up to his eye, snapped her fingers, and returned them to her side, all before he had the time to blink.

"Go away." She shoved him back against the wall and walked away. Mike went back to getting a drink like he had been, and then walked into the boys' bathroom, went into a stall, and threw up everything he had had for lunch.

Bella wound her arms around Edward's waist, and kissed him on the cheek. He swung her around until she was caught up in his arms and he was holding her like a baby.

"Bella, spend the night with me in my room." He whispered in her ear. "Tell your dad you're with Jess. I want you with me, in my space, tonight."

Bella bit her lips, looking into his loving eyes with her nervous ones.

"Edward, I don't know. I don't like to lie to my dad." Edward pressed his lips to hers.

"Bella, you know you want to. Just do it. Lie, whatever you have to do. I just want you with me."

Bella paused, looking him in the face. His eyes were different somehow.

"Edward?" she whispered, suddenly afraid, like she had been right at the end, that night in the ballet studio.

"It's me, baby. Don't worry, sugar cakes." Edward never called her pet names. He said they made a mockery of his deep and unfathomable love for her.

"You're not Edward." She stated, pulling away from him, and trying to swing her legs out of his arms.

He looked deeper into her eyes, and enforced, " Yes, I am. I am the Edward you love. I am the vampire Edward."

He also rarely said the word "vampire". He said it was a curse word to him. Dirty. Vile. Disgusting. Not proper for polite society.

"Let me go!" Bella cried, hitting his chest with her hands. "Put me down! Help! Oh, help!"

She gave a sob, drew a deep breath, and screamed. She screamed with all her might, all thoughts of embarrassment, and modesty, and diffidence aside. She screamed for what felt like hours, but must have only been seconds, because "Edward" dropped her…and the spell was broken.

She sat up in a dark room. There was no light. But that was no problem. She could still see. But once she looked around, she wished she hadn't.

The room was like something out of a horror movie, or a Stephen King book. The walls were draped with horribly spiky symbols for holding and terror and panic. On the floor was painted a pentagram, which, in of itself, wasn't horrible, but it was painted in blood. And the blood was fresh. And it was human.

She heard movements outside her door, just before the portal opened.

**Wow. I didn't know _that_ would happen. I thought I was going to make Bella and Edward sleep together. Guess not. Guess Bella's not _quite_ ready for that yet. Hmmmm. I wonder who took Bella? I guess you're going to have to read on to find out. **

**Also, please, with you reviews, leave an "I believe…" statement (that's not about me, yourself, or fanfiction). You know. Like, "I believe that trees have a right to life too." Or" I believe love is like orange chickens…impossible to find." (I love that one. That was submitted by my friend, the wonderful Jessica Shade.)**

**Please. Oh, and review too. **


	7. What I see

This is a poem Bella wrote before being kidnapped. I guess she was bored in Bio. Or something (Hehe). Yes. Actually, this is my ORIGINAL work. Please don't take this and claim it as your own. And, I won't mention this in the story, but Edward found it. This was before he changed her. When he was looking for clues in her room, he found this. And no disclaimers, since this is mine.

---

What I See 

_by Bella (Bluebonnetbabe)_

If I stood in front of you  
What would you see?  
First would you think of  
The love you have for me?

I know that you've called me  
pretty, quick, and smart  
Thanks for calling me sexy  
You sure do your part ;

Would that be it next?  
How I look to you,  
How brave I am maybe,  
The things I let you do

The usual probably,  
I know in a glance,  
If you take in my expression  
You know when to ask

How I'm feeling right now  
You say I don't show  
Guess I'm less out there  
Than other girls you know

It didn't bother me before  
Until it bothered you  
You want to know me even more  
Was this too good to be true?

I gave in to your love  
As you can easily see  
But it's what you can't see you say  
That pulls you away from me

So that would come next?  
My emotions, expressions  
The lines on my face  
But I know you have questions

If I stood long enough,  
Gave you time to think  
Doubts may resurface  
My hearts on the brink

Of insanity, I swear  
From what I see  
When I look at you  
As you're looking at me.


	8. 2nd authors note

You guys, everything before chapter 5 was Edward. Just Chapter 5 was the fake Edward.

Sorry if he was ooc then. I didn't mean for him to be. But you better get used to it…when I get back to him, he'll be the same…not Chapter _5_ same, but chapter _1-4_ same. Sorry for the confusion.

Bluebonnetbabe


	9. Chapter 6

Nothing is mine

--

The door opened enough for someone to slip in.

"Hello, Bella." the persons said. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"Let me out of here." Bella said calmly, trying to see the person's face. She realized with a jolt that he was wearing a hood.

"Bella, Bella, so supella, how her skin doth glow." The other sang in a sing-song voice.

Bella looked down at her arm. He was right. Sun from the open door had fallen across her skin and her skin was singing in the exposure.

"Body glitter." Bella explained away, shifting on the musty, creaky bed.

No, no, don't lie to me." the word 'me' ended on a high whine that made Bella wince. "You are pale. Your eyes are dark. You're getting snappish. You need to eat." The man took a bottle from the confine of his jacket, and set it one the floor. Bella could see the liquid dark, thick, heavy…red. He was offering her blood.

Bella recoiled and looked at the man in horror.

"Wha-?"

The man said nothing.

Bella gathered her muscles, checked her reflexes, and prepared to leap. To rip his throat out. If she tasted blood tonight, it would be his.

"Don't." the one word cracked in the air. "There is a silver shackle 'round your ankle."

Bella looked at him, incomprehension on her face.

"Oh!" the man sounded delighted, and tapped his lips with a finger. "Edward did not tell you. Why would he? If you hated what you had became, this would be the perfect way."

"What are you talking about?" Bella snapped as she continued to look at him.

"As a silver bullet is to a werewolf, so is a silver shackle to a vampire." The man recited this in a textbook voice.

Bella felt fear now, as she never had before. Her thin stockings prevented the silver from coming in contact with her skin, but there was a persistent, thin, simmering burn that hadn't registered until now. She reached down to rub the burn away, and recoiled in pain and horror as her fingers met with the silver. The silver had bitten and flayed her gentle skin.

She looked at the hooded man in revulsion.

An evil smile split his lips, and lifted his cheeks bones under the cloth.

"Ah. Little Bella is learning things anew and all over."

"Why are you doing this?" Bella asked in a thin whisper as she plaited the hose and tucked it gently under the cuff to prevent being burned. The quiet, angry simmer disappeared completely, but she was still wary of it.

" The devil's children should not be allowed life. Why plague us any longer? You feel nothing, except blind hunger. We feel more. We feel the pain of each death committed by," he spat the word, "your kind. _Vampires_. Why should you be allowed life as though your heart still beat and your lungs still needed air?"

Bella looked at this bitter, angry, frightened, and vengeful man. " I feel things. I feel love. I feel fear here. I feel anger, hate, lust, joy. We are the same. Except," she leaned forward, "you are a coward.

Instead of striking her or even getting angry, he laughed and left the room. Bella sat curled on the bed, eyeing the beaker sitting on the floor. She laid her head back on the pillow, and then sat up as an idea came to her. She looked at the bedpost where the chain was shackled. She might be able to break the post right at where the bolt was driven into the wood and carry is with her as she escaped.

But as she wrapped her hand around the wood, ready to wrench it free, she cried out again. There were valleys and rivulets of silver running and twisting in the wood. So that was no good. She looked around. Anything else that she might have used to escape was laced, too, with silver.

"Damn," she muttered.


	10. Chapter 7

Here I am lovelies! I know how badly you missed me. Nothing is mine…wish it was pouts

Bella sat one the bed, her legs pulled up to her chest, rocking gently, every now and then gingerly pulling at the chain tethering her to this hell.

She gave a small jump as the door opened, and a small body was forced through.

The person cried out and crumpled to the floor.

"Have fun, ladies." The man cackled before the door closed.

"Alice?" Bella asked, reaching out to the crumpled figure on the floor.

"Alice? Bella," and then Bella recognized the voice. "It's Jess."

"Jess," Bella breathed, helping Jess limp to the bed. Only then did Bella notice the small cuts dotting Jess's body, and the delicious smell of blood coming off of her.

She gave an almost inaudible moan, and Jess looked at her.

"Why are we here? I'm so scared." A tear crept down Jess's cheek, and landed on the lapel of her rain jacket.

"I don't know why we're here." Bella responded, not breathing so the intoxicating scent of the blood couldn't go to her head.

"Is that…is that _blood_?" Jess's voice went up several octaves as she pointed a shivering finger in the direction of the vial sitting on the floor. Only then did Jess look around the room. She gave one long, ear-shattering scream before fainting.

Bella looked down at the prone figure on the bed, wondering how in the world she got here, among other things. She swallowed hard, dragging her eyes up from one particularly deep cut in Jess's upper arm, to Jess's face.

"Jess," Bella called in her ear, gently tapping her face, watching the force so as to not cause her head to cave in. "jess, wake up. I need your help."

Several minutes of this and jess opened her eyes, and looked into Bella's.

"Whaaat?" Jess complained, rolling over and tucking an arm under her head.

"Jess, I need you to try to get this chain off of me. Please."

At this Jess sat up and looked at the shackle on Bella's leg. She frowned and then bit her lip.

"My brother taught me how to pick locks. But I don't have anything…" and she trailed off, looking at the assorted items on the wall.

"Aha!" Jess crowed, taking some stuff from hooks and then she sat to bending and twisting for about thirty minutes as Bella wondered what to tell her as way of explanation.

"Alright. Just a minute…"jess pushed her lock pick into the lock, and there was a click.

The hated thing fell from Bella's flesh, ands they both sat and looked at the burn mark that twisted and twined about Bella's ankle like a snake.

"What…?"

"Never mind." Bella said, standing up and smoothing down her skirt. She strode quicly to the door, and pushed on it.

It swung open, and they looked down the dark hall, each shivering.

"This is too easy," Bella whispered. "Jess, don't you think?" She turned around and Jess was gone.

There was no body on the floor, to sliding doors she could have left through. Only thin air as Bella's companion.

**I updated! I updated! I updated! Yay! Now…review!**


	11. Chapter 8

Here I am. Please review. Have a bitch of a headache. See what I do for you!  

"Damn," Bella cried into the air. She had been so close to escape. Now she couldn't leave. She owed Jessica. If she were any less human she would run away and leave Jess to her own fate.

Bella stood still in the threshold of the room, and breathed deeply. She couldn't smell her.

She listened, discarding the crickets outside, the scratches from inside the wall…

The scratches! Bella threw her fist through the wood, hearing it splinter. She shuddered as several mice ran out of the ruin, scolding her in their little piping voices.

"Jess," Bella called. "Jess?"

"Bella, stop."

The man was back. He smiled sardonically at her. "I see you were freed. I hate being thwarted. But," he shrugged, "It is still a good game."

"A game?" Bella whispered, her features twisting. "A game? A _fucking_ game is Monopoly or Go Fish. This isn't a game. My best friend is somewhere, _somewhere you know,_ and I have to save her! Let her go. Keep me. Please."

If this guy had an ego, Bella would play to it. She spilled onto her knees, and clasped her hands as though in prayer. "Please."

The man stared coldly at her. "Get up. Groveling doesn't help. It hasn't helped any of the others."

"Others?" Bella said, looking down the hall, where more doors led to rooms. "You… you have others here?"

He cackled. "Yes indeed. You didn't think you were the only one, did you?"

All Bella could think was, _oh Edward. Are you one of them?_

**I don't know where to go from here. Any suggestions would be much loved! Thank you!**


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